More Than Meets The Eye
by Sunstreakersgirl95
Summary: Caity, a small town Texas girl, has lived with her Aunt Sara and Uncle Will for about a year now in Nevada, but now she is moving to Reefside to live with her other uncle, Uncle Tommy for her senior year of high school. What happens when she finds the pink Dino Gem and becomes the pink Dino Ranger? How will she hide it from her Uncle Will and the Autobots? Find out in MTMTE.
1. New Changes

More Than Meets the Eye

PF/TF

Chapter 1

I do not own Power Rangers or Transformers, but I do own my OC characters.

(Caity's POV)

I had just cooled down Storm, my black Mustang Stallion after practicing the barrels. It seems like every time he runs the barrels he just runs faster, if that is even possible at all. Storm loves to run though, to me it seems like he was born to run. My dad bought him for me when he was just a yearling at a Wild Mustang Roundup. He is a strong and powerful Stallion now, kind of hard to believe when I first saw him he was standing in the corner shaking so bad because he was so scared and had been separated from his mom. My bad, here I am talking about my horse and I haven't even introduced myself yet, gosh where are my manners. My name is Catherine Lennox, a 17 year old who lives with her Aunt and Uncle after my parents were killed in a car accident about 1 year ago. I have two horses, Storm who I have already told you about and Thunderhead a dapple grey Spanish Norman. Thunder is trained for Equestrian Vaulting and well I already told you about Storm and the barrels. Equestrian Vaulting is gymnastics and dance on horseback. I love both sports and love to compete too. I have had Thunderhead for 6 years now and Storm about 3 ½ years. I love both of my horses and consider them my best friends since I never really have had friends. I'm the kind of person that is really shy until you can get me talking. Though, now I have a lot of friends and not the kind you would expect to have. They are from a different planet, called Cybertron. They are, well, giant robots that turn into vehicles and stuff. Ironhide is my family guardian though he battle-hardened and very trigger-happy but still has a soft side to him. Optimus Prime is the leader of the Autobots that's what they call themselves. The Cybertronians are at war with each other and split into 2 different factions, the Autobots (the good guys) and the Decepticons (the bad guys). Sideswipe is one of my best friends; we are always pulling pranks on Ironhide and the others. He has a twin but we don't know where he is right now but, I hope he comes to Earth soon because I know Sideswipe misses him. Then there is Ratchet the Hatchet, well, that's what the other bots call him. He is the CMO and is very good at his job. He also has very good aim when it comes to throwing wrenches; he can hit the other bots in the head or the helm and leave a really big dent too. Sweet little Bumblebee, well not really little but he sure is adorable. He is guardian of Sam Witwicky, I don't really talk to him but I see him often when Bee brings him to base. The triplets, Arcee, Chromia, and Elita-1 are a lot of fun to hang out with and have girl time. Arcee is the youngest of the three; Chromia is very trigger-happy which is probably why Ironhide is her Spark mate. That's like marriage for Cybertronians. Elita-1 is Optimus' Spark mate and is the one I go to if I just need to talk to someone like I used to talk to my mom. She's unofficially adopted me, kind of funny having a Cybertronian as a parent. I used to think it was weird but not anymore. I'm actually really grateful for her being there for me like she has even though she didn't have to. The two newest arrivals are Mirage and Wheeljack. Mirage is different from the others, I don't really know how to explain him to you but he has an Italian accent and he is kind of rude. Wheeljack, he always seems to end up blowing himself up with one of his experiments and Ratchet always has to fix him. I feel bad for the both of them because it has to be painful for Jack , and Ratchet just gets tired of fixing him. Well, that's all of the Autobots that are here on earth at the moment. I might be leaving to go live with my Uncle Tommy; he lives in Reefside, California. It's about a 7 hour drive without stopping. If I do go to live with him it would only be for my senior year of high school. Aunt Sara thinks I need to be back in a regular school instead of being homeschooled like I am now. She doesn't mind me being homeschooled but she thinks it would be better for me if I wasn't. I agree with her but I don't really want to leave and go to a new school and meet new people in a new city. I told them though if I do go to live in Reefside I want to take Storm and Thunderhead with me. Uncle Will said that if we have to we would hitch up the trailer to Ironhide and have him take me and my horses to Reefside. Ironhide being Ironhide refused for me to go, saying I would be a target for the Decepticons, so Optimus decided if I go, Sideswipe would go with me and Ironhide and the horses. So, Uncle Will said that after I finish practice today he would call my Uncle Tommy and finalize the arrangements. Since that Storm is back in his stall I will go tell Uncle Will that Storm and I finished practice for today.

(Normal POV)

"So, shall I see if we are actually going to Reefside?" Caity asked Storm as she closed his stall door. He just nudged her shoulder in a playful way and nickered at her. "Yeah, guess so." She replied. "I will let y'all know what they say and if we are going or not." She said as she gave Thunder a pat on the head as well as Storm. She had already finished her vaulting practice earlier so Thunderhead was already in his stall waiting for Caity and Storm to return to the barn. "I'll bring y'all dinner too with the news." She said over her shoulder as she walked out of the barn. Once she was outside of the barn she just looked at the house that had been her new home since 1 year ago. She can still remember the day when her Uncle Will picked her up from practice and took her to the hospital where she got the bad news about her parents. She also remembers when she was introduced to the Autobots. She was petrified when she first met them and now when she remembers that memory she just laughs at it because to her now it is funny though it wasn't when it happened. As she walked past Ironhide sitting in his alt-mode of a GMC Topkick C4500, she just patted the hood and said, "Hey, 'Hide." She just got an engine rumble though and she figured that he was sulking that the 17 year old was leaving and he couldn't do anything about it. He had taken a liking to her after they had talked a few times and she used to just talk to him whenever she couldn't sleep late at night. She was going to miss him too but at least she had Sideswipe, Storm, and Thunderhead going with her and those three were staying. Sideswipe had told her that Ironhide had trained him and his twin and to say she was shocked was an understatement. She had told Sideswipe that she didn't think he would put up with him and his twin. He just laughed and said, "Well, we weren't like that bad back, when we joined the Autobots Ironhide actually scared me a little same with Sunny but he won't admit it though." She just smiled at that memory. She walked in and looked for either her Aunt or her Uncle but didn't see them but then she saw her little cousin running straight towards her with the biggest frown on her face and it looked like she had been crying. Caity just bent down and hugged her. "What's wrong Annabelle?" Caity asked. "You're leaving." The 6 year old replied. "Daddy was talking to Uncle Tommy a couple of minutes ago and daddy said that you would be leaving in the morning and would be in Reefside before supper time." Anna told her in a little more detail. "Aww, Annie I won't be gone forever, just for the school year. Then I will be back and we can play all you want." Caity told the sobbing little girl. "Really? What about Christmas and Thanksgiving and the other holidays?" She asked Caity. "Not sure yet but that doesn't mean that I can't come and visit or y'all can come and visit me and Uncle Tommy." Caity said trying to comfort the little girl. "Mmk." Annabelle replied. "Do you know where your Dad is Belle?" Caity asked her. "Yep, he's in the garage talking to mommy about something." Annabelle said. "Thanks Belle. Can you do me a favor? Can you go cheer up Ol' Hide for me; he looks like he needs a hug." Caity asked and hoping that the little girl could make the sulking Cybertronian feel better and perhaps put him in a better mood then he was right now. Almost immediately the girl had a horrified look on her face like her favorite pet had just died and she gasped and asked, "'Hide's in a bad mood? He won't be for long. I'll go cheer him up right now", replied little Annabelle and opened the front door and walked to Ironhide like she was on a mission. Will had just left the garage and saw Annabelle leave the house and was walking straight for Ironhide who was sitting his alt-mode. Will just shook his head heading to the house to look for Caity who was standing at the front door watching Annabelle and Ironhide with an amused look on her face. As he approached her, she turned her face to face him and asked, "When do I leave?" He just closed his eyes and took a deep breath and replied, "Well, school starts Monday so you can leave tomorrow at 7 am and you will get there around 3 or 4 pm the same day then you have part of tomorrow and Sunday for you and the horses to get settled before you have to go to school Monday." "I'll start packing my stuff and the things I'll need for Storm and Thunder after dinner then. By the way what's for dinner?" Caity asked tying to not think about leaving at the moment. "Chicken Fried Steak with Corn and Sweat Peas, your favorite." He told her. "Yummy, sounds good." She replied. "I think I will go ask if Aunt Sara needs any help." "Ok, just let me know if you need help packing or loading anything into Ironhide later." "Okay, thanks" Caity replied as she hugged him. "I'm going to miss y'all when I leave." "We are going to miss you too." Will said as she walked off towards the kitchen. As Caity walked toward the kitchen she could smell dinner and hear Sara in the kitchen making dinner. "Aunt Sara, do you need any help?" asked Caity as she entered the kitchen. Sara turned around from the stove and answered her, "I'm okay for right now, sweetie but, thanks for asking. "Mmk, if you're sure." Caity replied. "I'm sure." Sara answered. "Okay, well, I'm going to get a head start on packing then." She said, than she said, "Just let me know when dinner is ready." "Alright, I'll let you know when dinner is ready sweetie." Sara said as Caity was walking out of the kitchen and to the stairs to go to the second floor of the house where her room is.

(Caity's POV)

Okay, what to pack, what to bring, how much stuff do I need to bring? Gosh, this is worse than the time I had to go to summer camp a few years ago. Okay, I should probably bring all the necessities including my underwear, retainer and other stuff for my teeth, socks lots of socks, my boots and my tennis shoes, my casual riding clothes for trail riding, competition clothes in case I want to compete in rodeo or vaulting. Umm, let's see I have that and that and I need to get that okay in the bag. I need to figure out what I'm wearing for tomorrow and lay it out so that I can just throw my clothes on and load the horses and then we can be on our way. I still need to load Storm's tack and all of his brushes shampoo and conditioner, his blankets and fly masks. His show halter needs to go to along with his rope halter, and his regular halter too and his bridles too. I think I need to bring my barrel racing saddle and my trail riding saddle for him and all of his saddle pads. I'm going to go ahead and feed Storm and Thunder and then figure what else I need to bring for Storm and then figure out what I need to bring for Thunder too. I walked out the front door and looked over where Ironhide was and I saw Annabelle hugging Ironhide's bumper or well, at least trying to. It was so cute; I just shook my head and kept on walking towards the barn to give the horses their dinner. I always either feed them before or right after dinner. So, when they see me coming they know it's their turn to eat. I always feed Storm first because he is the impatient one of the two. I think that might be because he is a stallion and Thunder is a gelding. Storm and Thunder are polar opposites though they are best of friends; Storm is the more athletic one and loves to run and make me chase him in the pasture when it's time to go back in the barn while Thunder comes right up to me when I whistle to him and lets me put his halter on with no problems. As I walk into the barn I can hear Storm whinny at like, "I want my food!" He's also throwing his head around all excited while Thunder just knickers at me as a gentle greeting. I walk past them into the feed room to measure their food. Storm and Thunder both have different feed because they are different types of athletes. Storm the barrel racer and Thunder the vaulting horse; two very different types of sports but they both need to be in tip top shape to perform. I measure Storm's feed and pour it into his bucket that is in the feed room and add a couple little treats to his feed. I set his aside and measure Thunder's feed and I also add a couple little treats in his bucket. Then I pick up Storm's bucket and carry their food to their stalls. I set Thunder's feed down and take Storm's feed into my other hand as I open his stall door; he immediately calms down and starts sniffing the bucket trying to get to his food. I hang his bucket to the rope that is tied to his stall and he immediately starts eating. "Silly boy, you look like you've never seen food in your life." I say as I see him eating like he's never seen food before. To anybody else it would seem like he doesn't eat a lot but the truth is that he eats about as much as his best friend the 17 hand Spanish Norman next stall. He is an athlete though and they do eat a lot more than regular people or incase a horse. Next, I exit Storm's stall to go into Thunderhead's stall to feed him. If someone that's not really around horses saw me next to Thunder they would think he was huge. I guess he is considering he is 17 hands and each hand equals 4 inches that would be pretty tall compared to me; I'm only 5' 4". After I hang up his feed bucket I give Thunderhead a big hug because he is the only one out of the two that could care less of me giving them a hug. He is the calmest horse that I have ever met and I love him for that. I stroke his neck as I talk to him like, "Gosh, I'm going to miss this place so much. I'm going to miss everyone here too; at least Sideswipe and Ironhide are driving us there though Sideswipe is the only one staying. Not that is a bad thing or anything but, he's become like another Uncle to me even though he is a giant robot." I just lay my head on his shoulder and tears just start running down my face. "I'll see you in the morning boy; we have a long drive tomorrow so we have to be up bright and early. I'll finish packing everything tonight and load it in the trailer." I say as I give him one last hug before I exit his stall and go to the tack room to start packing the stuff the horses will need. "Okay, let's see, the saddles need to go in the carriers. I need to put the bridles and halters in the carrying bags and the grooming supplies in the duffle bag. I need to pack Storm's boots and both of their blankets; the turnout blankets and their stable blankets. They both need their fly masks and I need to pack the bareback pads because Storm loves to go on rides without the saddle." Hmm, I don't think I need to take the barrels with me and I don't need to take the vaulting barrel with me to practice with because Uncle Will said that they have a full sized arena and barrels to practice with Storm so he won't get rusty or too restless. I don't need spurs because Storm is already so fast and doesn't need me to kick him with spurs either. He wants to run and I'm along for the ride. I've already packed all my clothes including my show clothes for both rodeo and vaulting. After I packed everything I started to load everything into the trailer for the horses. We have a big red gooseneck horse trailer that fits 3 horses and has a big room to put the tack and supplies in. I put everything in the trailer except two halters and matching lead ropes and the horses travel blankets and boots. After that I walked back to the house to eat dinner with everybody else and then load my stuff into the compartments on the side of the trailer and then I walk back into the house and go get ready for bed. Well, I guess I am going to go bed now so I can wake up early tomorrow and not be tired. I am still going to miss Aunt Sara, Uncle Will, Annabelle, and the Autobots when I leave but, I am looking forward to seeing Uncle Tommy again.

Well, that's chapter 1 of More Than Meets the Eye. In the next chapter Caity takes a road trip with Ironhide and Sideswipe, meets new people at the stable and reunites with her Uncle Tommy. Stay tuned to see how it turns out.


	2. Arriving in Reefside

More Than Meets the Eye

Chapter 2

I do not own Power Rangers or Transformers, but I do own my OC characters.

(Normal POV)

It was 6:00 am in the morning when Caity's alarm clock went off telling her it was time to get up for the day and finish getting everything ready to leave in a few hours. She rolled over trying to reach her alarm to turn it off but didn't realize how close to the edge she was and fell off the bed. "Oof, talk about an awful way to wake up." she mumbled to herself. She sighed and got up to go into the bathroom to get ready for the day. As she looked into the mirror she said, "Reefside here I come." After she was ready for the day she went don stairs and into the kitchen to get something to eat. The only person up was her uncle, seeing as though he was in the military so it was understandable he was used to being up this early. In fact he was always up this early. Aunt Sara on the other hand was a stay at home mom so that she could take care of Annabelle. "Mornin' Uncle Will." Caity said as she walked into the kitchen. "Morning, you ready for today?" He asked her. "I'm ready but… also kind of nervous. I'm going to be the new kid again and the last time it didn't go very well." She replied looking kind of worried and. "I'm sure you will be fine. You might even meet some people at the stable your age and I'm sure you will be fine at the new school. Everybody loves Texans! He told her with a serious look on his face then it broke into a grin. She just shook her head and smiled at his attempt to joke around. "Thanks for the pep talk Uncle Will. I'm going to get the horses ready for the road trip." She told him as she hugged him then she walked out of the kitchen and out the front door. As, she walked out the front door she saw something silver in the driveway. She smiled knowing who it was. Her newly appointed guardian, Sideswipe, was sitting in the driveway next to Ironhide. She walked up to him and greeted him, "Hey Sides, ready for the road trip to Reefside?" "Ugh, it's too early for this." He groaned in reply. "Yeah, good to see you too Sideswipe." She said sarcastically rolling her eyes. "Sorry Cat, I'm still tired and don't know why we have to be up this early for anything." He told her using her nickname. Sideswipe was the only one that ever called her by Cat. It was a special nickname that Sideswipe gave her when they first met. Ever since then she had that nickname along with a few others. She just rolled her eyes and said, "Sure it is Sides, sure it is." "I'm serious I need a complete recharge so that I don't look like... What do you call those again?" "Zombies Sides, there called zombies." "Right those; they are just disgusting even though they aren't real. I don't see why humans like to scare themselves with those scary movies. You humans are just weird." He shuddered as he talked about them. "I don't even like those kind of movies Sides, and I'm not weird. If anyone is weird it's you! How would you even look like a zombie? You're a giant robot." She retorted rolling her eyes again. "I take offence to that and you shouldn't roll your eyes so much because one of these days they're going to get stuck." "Good, you should and that is just a saying." Caity said ending the argument and walked off toward the barn. Both of them knew they weren't mad at each other, they were just playing around. As she entered the barn she turned the light on and walked in to the feed room to get Storm and Thunder's feed. After she fed both of the horses she went to the tack room to get Storm and Thunder's blankets and shipping boots. Storm has a turquoise zebra blanket with matching shipping boots. He also has a turquoise halter with a matching lead rope. Thunder has a green zebra blanket with matching shipping boots. He also has a green halter with a matching lead rope. After both of the horses had eaten she went into Thunder's stall to put his blanket, shipping boots, and halter on him and then repeated the same with Storm. After both horses were ready to go, she clipped on Thunder's lead rope and led him out of his stall and out of the barn towards the waiting trailer that had already been hooked up to Ironhide. "Good boy." Caity said as she led him into the trailer and then puts the divider back into place and unclips the lead rope from Thunder's halter. Will had just walked out of the barn with Storm as Caity finished securing Thunder in the trailer. "Ready for Storm?" Will asked her as he walked up with Storm. "Yep, I just finished putting Thunder in." She replied, walking out of the trailer to get Storm from her Uncle. "Thanks, for bringing him out for me." Caity said as she took Storm from Will. "No problem, glad to help." He told her. "Mmk, you ready to go Storm?" She asked him as she started to lead him into the trailer. He hesitated a little but went into the trailer. She put another one of the dividers back into place that was next to Thunder's. She then unclipped his lead rope too and walked out of the trailer and closed the backdoor of the trailer and secured it to make sure it wouldn't come open. She then went to the side of the trailer to open the windows for the windows so that the horses could see out if they wanted to; they both then stuck both of their heads out the windows. After she opened the windows she walked over to her Uncle and asked him, "Can you watch them for me? I have a few more things that I still need to get from the tack room that I forgot to get yesterday." "Sure, go ahead. I'll keep an eye on them for you." He replied. She then walked back to the barn to get the rest of the stuff she needed. She still needed to get the tack she needed for vaulting and a few other things. After she gathered the last of the stuff she needed she took them out to the trailer and put them in the trailer where she stored the tack when they needed to travel. By the time everything was ready to go Sara and Annabelle walked out of the house to say their goodbyes to Caity, Sideswipe, and Ironhide. Annabelle already seemed to be crying while Sara seemed to keep it together better than her daughter. "What are we going to do with you not here with that big smile on your face?" Sara asked her niece as she walked up. "It won't be that long until I'm back here practicing with Storm and Thunder. We can also webcam so it won't be that bad." Caity said trying to comfort her Aunt. "Webcam won't be that bad. It's better than just talking on the phone or texting." Sara said trying to think on the bright side. "I'm still going to miss you though Caity" Annabelle said. "Aww, I'm going to miss you too Belle." Caity said as she hugged the little girl. Then it was time for Will to say bye to his niece. "Sideswipe will keep us updated on your status and will let us know if you are in danger. Ironhide will come back here after you unload you stuff from the trailer at Tommy's after you have taken the horses to the stable. I'm going to miss you so much Caity" Will told her as he hugged her. "I'm going to miss you to Uncle Will. I'll call everyday and webcam every day, I promise." She told them as she hugged her uncle back. "Well, I guess we better get going. We have a long trip ahead of us." Caity said as she hugged everyone one last time then she went over to Sideswipe because she was going to be riding with him. Ironhide would be using his holoform during the trip. Little did anyone know that Wheelie, the Ex-Decepticon turned Autobot had stowed away in one of Caity's bag. "So, ready for a road trip Sides?" Caity asked Sideswipe as he drove away from the Lennox Ranch she had lived at for the past year. "Oh, yeah baby! This is going to be fun; new city to explore, illegal street racing, and other things that sound so much fun." Sideswipe exclaimed as he revved his engine. "Yeah, well, you for one will not going to do any of that but maybe explore the city and I might not even let you wander the city unsupervised." Caity told him almost in a scolding voice with an amused look on her face. "You are no fun you know that right?" Sideswipe asked her. "Yeah, because I behave like a good girl should." Caity told him, teasing him with a smile on her face. "That's not funny Cat, not funny at all." He told her pouting. "Yeah, well, get over it metal boy." Caity told her guardian as she once again rolled her eyes at her guardian. "Well, you always seem to be eager to help out with my pranks especially when it involves Ratchet or Ironhide. Why is that huh?" Sideswipe asked her teasing her because he knew that it bugs her so much to be teased. "Hmm, maybe know maybe it was to see Ironhide painted hot pink or maybe it was to see Ratchet painted hot pink." Sideswipe stated remembering when he had enlisted the help of his charge to paint not only Ironhide but Ratchet too in hot pink. "Eh, that was too funny but no it wasn't because of that." She said remembering why. It was because she decided she wanted to get Ironhide back because he decided he wanted to teach her how to defend herself and it did not end well either that day. Lots and lots of bruises that day but she had turned into a natural fighter with the little time they had spent together sparring and Ironhide teaching her. She had taken a liking to the sport almost immediately. It was her idea to get Ironhide too but Sideswipe had already planned to paint Ratchet. It had taken little persuasion to convince the silver Stingray to paint Ironhide too and it had been worth it even when Sides got a wrench thrown to his helm. It left a very nasty dent on his helm. "Ya know, I still think it was funny when Ratchet nailed you in the head with his wrench." Caity said laughing. "That hurt! You have no idea what it feels like to be hit in the head with a wrench especially the Hatchet's wrench." Sideswipe said trying to defend his pride. That moment Wheelie decided he wanted a say in the conversation. "Ya know toots, I don't know why you put up with this oversized toaster." That moment hearing Wheelie's voice Sides hit the brakes and fishtailed to a stop behind Ironhide. Caity then turned around looking at Wheelie, "What in the world are you doing here? In Sideswipe? In my bag with my stuff?" She cried out startled but more mad then anything because he was in her bag. This was one of the times when her Texan accent showed the most. It was never fun to be around an angry Caity. "What are you even doing here? Why aren't you with Sam and Carly?" Caity asked him as she had seemed to be calming down by the second. "Well, I decided and Brains too, we decided we wanted to go with you and Carly's mean just like Mikaela." Wheelie told them trying to keep on their good side in hopes of them not kicking him and Brains. "Both of you are here, in my bag? Gosh, this just went from bad to worse."Caity exclaimed getting mad at Wheelie again. "And what do you mean Carly's mean?" "Both Carly and Sam don't want us there so when we heard that you were going to Reefside we decided we were going too." Any anger that still filled Caity was gone that second when Wheelie told her that. At that moment her Texas raising kicked in and she picked him up and hugged him close. "Aww, you poor things you just wanted to belong with someone, a family." "Mini Hatchet, I don't need you cuddling me like a puppy cause I'm an Autobot. I do not cuddle!" Wheelie told her. _Mini Hatchet_, one of the other nicknames she had been given by Sideswipe because she could compare to Ratchet known for his tempers and wrench throwing with her temper. While all of this was happening Ironhide had stopped after a while after realizing that Sideswipe and Caity weren't behind him. He immediately opened a com-link with Sideswipe. "Sideswipe! Where the pit are you?!" "We stopped a few minutes ago apparently we have two stowaways, Wheelie and Brains the ex-Decepticons." Sideswipe told him. Ironhide after talking with Sideswipe turned around to find his charge and his comrade. After driving for a couple of minutes Ironhide found them on the side of the road and Caity was talking to someone on Sideswipe's alt-mode who he suspected was Wheelie. He didn't like either of the two ex-decepticons. While, with Caity and Wheelie they were unaware that an angry Topkick had pulled up behind them and kept on with their conversation. "Ya know, I think I'm calling you _Warrior Goddess_ now instead of _Mini Hatchet_. You can fight with the best of them and now I'm your little Autobot." Wheelie told almost excitedly. He had not been this excited since Jetfire had told him that he could defect from the Decepticons and join the Autobots. Caity just rolled her eyes. She had heard all about Mikaela and how she had gotten that nickname by blowtorching Wheelie's optic when he had tried to steal the Allspark fragment from the safe. It was sad but it was funny at the same time. "Are you serious? I already have a front liner that I have to keep in line now I get two ex-Decepticons to go with him. Awesome, so awesome!" Caity said sarcastically to herself as she hit her head on the head rest. After that had been cleared up Wheelie and Brains were put in the backseat of Sideswipe's alt-mode and they were on their way to Reefside again. Hopefully, there wouldn't be something else to interrupt their trip. After a few hours of driving and listening to Sideswipe's choice of music while secretly planning payback for having to listen to rap, she managed to change the station. "Ugh, are you serious? I finally let you finally change the station and this is what you put it on?" Sideswipe asked her. "Yeah, you get to put up with Alan Jackson, Jason Aldean, and all my other fav country singers." She told him, very happy with her choice in music that was finally playing on the radio. Her favorite type on music is country, all her life she had grew up listening to country with her dad. Country music was the one thing she still could listen to and it would make her feel better. Most people didn't understand why she liked it so much. Sideswipe knew better than to change the station though, being her best friend for a few months he knew what would set her off among other things. When Sideswipe had been first introduced to Caity it did not go well would have been an understatement. She had already met some of the others but had still to meet Sideswipe. He made her mad by something he had said to her and she picked up the first thing that she could find and that thing being a wrench conveniently and nailed Sideswipe in the helm. That would be also a reason she had gotten her nickname _Mini Hatchet_. After that incident they had become best of friends and nothing could separate them. They both needed someone to lean on, Caity had just lost her parents and Sideswipe was separated from his twin brother, Sunstreaker. "So, you actually listen to this all the time?" Wheelie finally asked Caity as he had not said anything since her little outburst earlier. "Yeah, all the time." Caity answered him. She was one of the sweetest people you could meet but when you made her mad her temper flew through the roof and she would be on a rampage for a while until someone could calm her down and the only people capable of that are all back at Diego Garcia except two, the Autobots Ironhide and Sideswipe. There was no guarantee that they would calm her down though because they thought it was so funny to see a little human make a big Autobot cower. "Well, I guess it's better than that stuff Sides had on a few minutes ago." Wheelie said trying to not make his Warrior Goddess mad. "Hey! I like that music though." Sideswipe but in trying to defend his taste of music. "You, Sideswipe have no taste in music." Caity told him teasing him again her drawl once again more noticeable. Even though she didn't like to be teased she could bare it with Sideswipe because she could always get him back with something she didn't let him know that though. "I take offence to that." Sideswipe told her pouting. "Your pouting aren't you?" Caity asked him. "I am not pouting." Sideswipe. "Are." "Not." "Are" "Not." "Are." "Not" "Are." "Not." "Are" "SLAG! STOP IT BOTH OF YOU!" Ironhide roared through the com-link. Caity and Sideswipe both flinched as Ironhide yelled. "You both are not sparklings anymore so quit acting like one." Ironhide told them his voice still booming but not yelling anymore. "But where's the fun in that?" Caity asked, her eyes sparkling with amusement. Her southern drawl was more noticeable when either she was mad or amused. Ironhide just sped up and pulled in front of them and ignored them. "Aww, Ironhide don't be like that." Caity whined to him. She hated when he did this. Ironhide, the big bad weapon specialist, the shoot first ask later type, never played around or teased. He was always serious about things. I guess that's what happens when you have been a soldier in a war for centuries it war-hardens you. After all of the excitement Caity drifted into a sleep still a little tired from waking really early.

(Time Skip) – 4 hours later

"Caity." Sideswipe called to her softly trying to wake her up. "Mmmhmm?" Caity mumbled groggily to him. "We're here Cat. We're here in Reefside." Sideswipe told her. She had taken a nap earlier but had been woken up by something and could not fall back asleep until about an hour ago. "Mmk." She told him about to drift off back to sleep land but was interrupted by Sideswipe's voice again. "Cat, you can't go back to sleep. I know you want to go back to sleep but you need to wake up so that you can unload the horses and meet your uncle Sweetspark." Sweetspark would also be a pet name that Sideswipe called her. "I hate you." She mumbled to him groggily. He just laughed at her knowing that she didn't mean it, she was just tired. A few minutes later they pulled into the driveway of the stable that would serve as Storm and Thunderhead's new home for the new school year. As they came to a stop Ironhide parked beside them. As she got out of Sideswipe she looked around the stable grounds and suddenly felt very nervous with everyone staring at the new arrivals. Ironhide's holoform exited his true form to help Caity unload the horses and get them settled in for the night. "Ready?" She asked him as he came to stand next to her. "Let's get this over with." He replied gruffly walking to the back of the trailer to start unloading the horses from the trailer. As he walked to the back of the trailer the owner of the stable also known as Mike Brasfield walked up to Caity, "Caity, right?" he asked her. "Yes sir, that's me." She told him as they both walked back to the trailer. "Great to meet you Miss Lennox, I'm Mike Brasfield we spoke on the phone. Both horses in the trailer?" He asked. "Yeah, they are." "Well, both of the stalls are ready for them along with the pasture. There is also a place in the stalls on the wall for you to store your tack and equipment for your horses. It's like a closet." He told her. "Thank you, I really appreciate it. Also, Storm doesn't need to be with any other horses besides Thunderhead. He isn't very friendly to horses he doesn't know." She told him wanting to make sure that her horse wasn't exactly the friendliest horse in the world. "Alright, I'll make sure that everyone knows not to mix Storm with any other horse."

"Thank you. I just don't want any accidents with him involved." "I understand." "Mmk, I'm going to get Storm out of the trailer so that he can get settled along with Thunder." "Alright, I will leave you to it then and then just ask Justin where the stalls are when you get ready to put them in their stalls." "Okay, thank you again." "You're welcome." He replied as he walked off. Caity then walked into the open trailer to clip Storm's lead rope to his halter she then pushed the bar back so that she could lead Storm out. "Come on, buddy lets go." She told him as led him out of the trailer, she then tied him to the side of the trailer by one of the loops on the trailer. She then went to go get Thunder she repeated the same process with him. After Thunder was tied to the side of the trailer she asked Ironhide if he could watch Thunder while she took Storm to his stall. She then untied Storm and walked him towards the stable as she walked to the Stable a boy around her age walked up to her asking if her name was Caity. "Yeah, and this is Storm." She told him. "Alright just follow me and I will show you where his stall is. Also, Thunderhead's stall is right next to his and they already have the nameplates on the stalls." He told her as he walked to the stalls. "Alright, thanks. That will help a lot, a place this big I might get lost and might not be able to find my horses." She joked. "Well, it has been known that horses come in here never come back out." He joked back with her. Caity just laughed. "Well, here they are your horses' stalls. Do you need me too show you where they are again or do you have it down?" He asked. "Nah, I have it down, but I might need someone to show me where stuff is around here though." "Alrighty just let me know if you need help or something. Kay?" "Yep, I got it. Thank you." "Welcome, well I have some stuff I need to take care of so I will see you later." "Okay, see you later." After Storm was in his stall a girl around her age with brown hair a little past her shoulders came up to her. "Hey, you're the new girl right?" She asked Caity. "Yeah, I'm Caity." She introduced herself. "I'm Jessica." Jessica introduced herself. "Nice to meet you, Caity. Is this your horse?"Jessica asked looking over at Storm. "Yeah, one of them, this is Storm, and Thunderhead is over by the trailer…or maybe not." Caity told her as she saw Ironhide leading Thunder over to Caity. "Here, take him." He told Caity as he shoved the lead rope roughly into Caity's hand and then walked off. She raised one of her eyebrows, "Okay, what was that about?" Jessica asked. "I have no idea but this is my other horse Thunderhead." "Aww, they're both so handsome and I love the matching blankets and stuff. I have a Friesian stallion named Prince." Jessica told her as she admired her horses. "Thanks! I love Friesians they're gorgeous." Caity told her. "Thank you, he's like my baby. Ya know?"

"Yeah, I do. I've had Storm since he was just a baby, I practically raised him." "Do you need any help or do you have everything under control?" Jessica asked as she watched Caity tie Thunder to the stall and then walk Storm into his stall that has his name on it. "Nah, I've got everything under control here, but I might need a hand with the tack if you want to help." Caity replied as she closed Storm's stall door after she had taken his blankets, boots, and halter off and put it up. She walked over to Thunder and untied him and opened his stall door and led him into the stall and repeated the same process that she had with Storm. "I'd love to help! Prince sprained his tendon so he's out of commission for awhile and I can't pole bend with him for awhile so I'm just here today to change the bandages and make sure it doesn't get worse." "Sprained tendons are the worst! Storm had one last summer and it took about a month to heal and another before his leg was strong enough for us so that we were practicing barrels again." Caity told her remembering when Storm had started limping after a workout. She was a wreck for two reasons she had thought he went lame and two because she had never been around a horse that had sprained their tendon. She had literally slept in the barn until she knew he would be okay. Both of the girls had started to walk out of the barn and towards the waiting trailer to get the tack of the trailer and put it in the closet like compartments. Those compartments were meant to store tack and other the equipment for the horses. As the girls walked up to the trailer Caity saw that Ironhide holoform was sitting in his real form. 'I'll have to talk to him after we leave here and see what's up with him' Caity thought to herself. Caity then walked over to the door to where the tack was and opened it. She then walked inside to get some of Thunder's tack to put it up. "Come on in, Storm's tack is on the left and Thunder's is on the right." Caity told Jessica as she grabbed Thunder's bridle, side reins, and surcingle. "Mmk, what do you want me to carry?" Jessica asked her unsure of what to carry as she looked around. "You grab Thunder's girth, that big pad over there and the lunge line next to his girth" Caity told as she walked out to give her room to get the tack. "So, what is all of this stuff for? It doesn't look like regular tack." Jessica asked as they walked back to Thunder's stall. "It's for vaulting."

"Vaulting? I thought that was where you use a giant sick and leap over something high in the air."

"Wrong kind of vaulting, it's called Equestrian Vaulting. It's where you perform gymnastics and dance on the back of a horse."

"Oh, I've never heard of it"

"Not a lot of people have not like eventing or barrel racing."

"So you vault on Thunder on and off too?"

"Yeah, it's kind of tricky at first but once you learn how to get on a horse that big it gets easier. I also just back flip off of him."

"You back flip off of him?!"

"Yeah, it's a lot of fun if you know how to."

"Isn't that kind of dangerous?"

"Nope."

"You sure?"

"Yep."

"Alright….if you're sure. How many times have you fallen off trying to do that?"

"Just a few… okay maybe a lot but that was when I was a beginner."

Jessica just raised an eyebrow as Caity opened Thunderhead's stall. They both walked in and over to the corner where the 'closet' is.

"…And sprained a few ankles and wrists."

Jessica just stared at her as Caity opened it.

"…And it hurts a lot too but when you fall from a horse that tall you never want to fall again so you learn how to not fall."

"That's interesting."

"Yeah, I guess. It's actually really fun to watch though. I usually perform to music mostly country music."

"You like country music?"

"Yeah, I love it! It's what I grew up around and I fell in love with it."

"I'm not much of a fan but there are some songs that I like."

"That's three things we have in common."

"What?"

"Horses, rodeo, and country music."

"Oh, yeah, I forgot."

While that conversation was going on they had already walked out of the barn and back to the trailer where they had already put away the rest of Thunder's things which one of his bridles that he wears when Caity takes him trail riding and his brushes and stuff. They were going to leave some of the tack in the trailer because not all of it would fit. They also still had to get Storm's stuff which included one of his bridles, his brushes, his leg wraps, and boots. After all of the tack and equipment had been put where it was supposed to go both girls decided to go on a trail ride. Since, Prince was still out of commission they decided that Jessica would ride Thunder that way both of the horses got to stretch their legs after that long trip. "Soooooo…How am I supposed to get all the way up there?" Jessica asked as she stared up at Thunder's back where the saddle securely sat. "Well, there's lots of ways. One of them being a ladder and another being me giving you a boost. That's all I got though unless you have a better idea I would go with the ladder." Caity told her as she laughed. She understood exactly how she felt about trying to get up on Thunder. Her first time it took five tries until she was successfully on his back. "You should have seen me my first time trying to get on his back. It took five tries until I was able to get on his back." Caity told her as she tied Storm up so that she could help her new friend climb onto her horse. Both horses were already tacked up and ready for the trail and now they were outside trying to figure out how to get Jessica on Thunder's back. "Prince isn't even this tall and I still need a boost to get into the saddle." Jessica told her as she petted Thunder's neck. "Alright, on the count of three then." Caity told her. "For what?" "We, well, I am going to attempt to give you a boost up." "Umm, ok" Jessica replied uncertainly. "He's harmless and completely bombproof so he won't freak if you fall, not that you're going to though." Caity told her trying to calm her down. "Okay then, 1, 2, 3." "Wait, what?" Jessica asked but it was already too late and before she knew it she was sitting in the saddle of Thunderhead. Caity said and on three she gave her a boost up and Jessica was able to make it all the way up and pull herself into the saddle. "Well, that's a lot higher up then I thought it would be." Jessica said as she leaned over to adjust the stirrups. "Want to switch then?" "No thank you, I prefer calm horses over hot tempered ones." Jessica replied getting used to the height difference from the two horses. She had seen Storm up close and he didn't look like he was spirited but when Caity started tacking him up he got a little excited and almost reared. "He's not that bad ya know. Think of him like a little kid getting to play with his toy for the first time for a few days. That's how he is with going on trail rides, he loves it." Caity told her as she swung herself up into the saddle. "Ready to go?" "Yeah, let's go."

Time Skip – 1 hour

They had been out riding the horses for about an hour when they decided to head back to the barn and cool down the horses. After the horses had been cooled down and returned to their stalls they got ready to leave for the day.

"So, where are you going after this?" Jessica asked Caity as they closed Thunder's stall.

"I'm going to my Uncle's house to get settled and take a nice shower and let the guys put my stuff in my room and I'm not messing with it until tomorrow. It's not fun to be stuck in the same car with someone for several hours especially listening to rap music."

"That sounds like a good idea. Yeah, there is always that one person that will annoy you when stuck with you for a long period of time."

"The worst part is that he's my best friend too."

"Seriously?"  
"Yeah, I don't see him that much so he's not that annoying unless stuck with him for several hours. He works at the base where my other uncle works at, the one that is a Colonel."

"Aww, so you don't get to see him that often then?"

Well, yeah I do. I either go to the base or he's at Uncle Will's. It's more fun at base though because we pull pranks on other people. Ya know, the first time I met him he made he so mad I chucked something at his head. It didn't hurt him that bad though so it was all good."

" You threw something at his head?!"

"Yeppers! It was funny too, they didn't expect it either!" Epps thought it was hilarious so did Uncle Will and so did Ron."

"Well, there's my ride. I'll see you tomorrow! Bye!"

"Mmk, see ya tomorrow!"

Just as Jessica walked off Ironhide walked up to Caity and asked, "Ready to go kid?"

"Yeah, whenever y'all are."

After that they made their way to the Stingray and Topkick to drive to her Uncle's house.

Time Skip – 15 minutes

After the car ride they pulled up to her Uncle's house and just as she was exiting the car her Uncle walked out of his house. Caity immediately ran up to him and was engulfed in a bear hug. "Uncle Tommy, I missed you!"

"I missed you too, let's get you in and settled."

After they unloaded everything and moved it into her new room for the school year, they went to say their goodbyes to Ironhide or his holoform because her Uncle doesn't know about the Autobots. "Alright kid, make sure you stay out of trouble. I don't want to come back here and rescue you because you got yourself in trouble." "Don't worry 'Hide I have Sides with me, what's the worst that could happen?" "Famous last words kid." "If you say so, you be careful driving back to the ranch." Caity told him as she hugged him. As he hugged her back he just grunted in agreement. She watched him 'open' the door and drive away back to the Lennox ranch and this is when she realized that this would definitely be an interesting school year.

~Caity~

Sorry I haven't updated recently. Hope you enjoyed it.


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